Music Sunday: Concert Review/Concert Preview

Last weekend a friend and I traveled to New Orleans to see Augustana at the House of Blues. The weekend was a memorable one that included nearly 900 miles of driving, about three Monster energy drinks, a 4 a.m. return before going to work at noon and plenty of good times.

And the show was great as well.

The only two bands advertised were The Maine and Augustana, but we couldn't figure out which would go first. Turns out there were two openers - Hugo and Austin Gibbs.

Hugo was a pleasant surprise, as said friend and I were both fans of his cover of Jay Z's 99 Problems. And his set was really fun and everything an opener should be. I barely had any money, but he said his cd was available for $5 and he would be at the merch table, so we went over and got him to sign it.

And apparently take a creepy picture.

Austin Gibbs was someone I had never heard of and didn't know what to expect, all we had read was that he had an epic mustache. And he did. But he also gave one hell of a performance. I just saw his cd is only $7 on iTunes and I think I just might wing it and give it a shot.

And then there was the Maine. I kinda didn't like this band anyway as I put them in a category of bands that are the equivalent of being the NSYNC of Backstreet Boys of the alternative scene. But they were horrible, at least to me. I just felt like they were one of those groups that catered to making teenagers squeal (and there were plenty of them on Sunday) and not really care about making music. Basically, I hated it.

This is what my musical adventure partner was doing instead of watching The Maine (she was playing Snake)

Finally, the wait was over and Augustana took over the stage. They didn't do anything over the top or crazy, but just played some damn good music. Honestly, I think what made it special was its simplicity. The whole crowd was just wrapped up in the songs and it became an experience I will never forget.

The venue was really cool too.

Oh, and for those asking whether they played, "Fire," they did. Though they did it with the full band and it was cool. Here is my small clip of it:

After that show, Augustana propelled into my top ten. A band that is already there, Manchester Orchestra, I will be seeing on Wednesday.

This time it won't be as far as a drive as we are only going to Atlanta, which is a definite plus as that is the band's hometown. Another plus? Cage the Elephant is opening.

Here are two reasons why this show is going to be great: